Apparatus for forming shaped potato pieces from potato dough

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for combining a dry potato product with water so as to reconstitute the same into a firm potato dough. Apparatus for forming such dough into shaped potato pieces, such as french fry cut potato pieces. An impervious chamber for receiving the dry product and water, and a seal plate associated with the chamber for closing the chamber during reconstitution of the dough and for opening the chamber to permit ejection of the dough therefrom. An improved apparatus for forming the dough into shaped potato pieces as it is ejected from the chamber. A mechanism for metering a precise amount of the dry product into the chamber. A mechanism for metering a precise amount of water at a precisely controlled temperature into the chamber.

United States Patent Harmon et al.

['45] Dec. 24, 1974 [22] Filed:

[ APPARATUS FOR FORMING SHAPED POTATO PIECES FROM POTATO DOUGH [75]Inventors: James F. Harmon; Richard D.

Johnston; John H. Lach; William H. Von Der Lieth, all of Blackfoot;Thomas L. Murphy, Idaho Falls, all of Idaho '[73] Assignee: AmericanPotato Company, San

- Francisco, Calif.

Sept. 17, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 398,041

Related US. Application Data [62] Division of Ser. No. 170,164, Aug. 9,1971, Pat. No.

[52] US. Cl... 99/487, 259/18 [51] Int. Cl B01f 15/02 [58] Field ofSearch 99/487, 516, 534, 535,

[56] 7 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1946 Kelderhouse 259/9Simon 99/462 X 3,807,700 Kennedy 259/4 Primary Exarninerl-Iarvey C.l-lornsby Assistant ExaminerAlan Cantor Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Townsend & Townsend 57 ABSTRACT Apparatus for combining a dry,potato product with water so as to reconstitutethe same into a firmpotato dough. Apparatus for forming such dough into shaped potatopieces, such as french fry cut potato pieces. An

impervious chamber for receiving the dry product and water, and a sealplate associated with the chamber for closing the chamber duringreconstitution of the dough and for opening the chamber to permitejection of the dough therefrom. An improved apparatus for forming thedough into shaped potato pieces as it is ejected from the chamber. Amechanism for metering a precise amount of the dry product into thechamber.

A mechanism for metering a precise amount of water at a preciselycontrolled temperature into the chamber.

3 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures This. is a division of application Ser. No.170,164, filed Aug. 9, 1971, now Pat. No. 3,771,937.

This invention relates to apparatus for effecting reconstitution of adried potato product into potato dough and for forming such dough intoshaped pieces, such as french fry cut potato pieces. The machine of thepresent invention arose out of and is related to the subject matter ofco-pending US. application, Ser. No. 816,675, filed Apr. 16, 1969 andnow US. Pat. No. 3,605,647. The disclosure of the above-identifiedpatent application is incorporated hereinto by this reference for itsdisclosure of certain control and timing circuits as more specificallyreferred to hereinbelow.

Apparatus of the type embodying the present invention, as well as thatreferred to in the co-pending patent application cited above, isarranged to introduce a preselected amount of dry potato product andwater into a chamber in which such ingredients are retained for a timesufficient to permitformation' of a homogeneous potato dough. Theapparatus includes a piston in the chamber for ejecting the doughtherefrom through one end of the chamber at which is provided amechanism for separating the dough into shaped potato pieces. The shapedpotato pieces are then readied for eating by heating'them in a deep fatfryer or the like.

The chamber must be closed or sealed during the period of introductionof the dry potato product and water thereinto, during the periodrequired for water to disperse throughout the dry potato product, andduring the period required for formation of the dough. In the apparatusdescribed in the above cited patent application, sealing of the chamberis effected by retaining at the outlet end of the chamber a quantity ofdough from the preceding dough charge. Although such apparatus is mostsatisfactory in operation, it requires undue attention on commencementof operation after cleaning since a temporary sealing plug must beinserted during formation of the first dough charge. The sealing plug isthen removed and stored during normal operation of the apparatus, and isaccordingly subject to being misplaced or damaged.

' Anobject of the present invention is to provide an A imporved sealingmechanism for the chamber in which the dry potato product and water arereconstituted into a dough. At one longitudinal end of the chamber animpervious seal plate is provided. The seal plate is moveable between aclosed position and an open position; When the seal plate is in a closedposition, dry potato product and water introduced into the chamberare amechanism for moving the seal plate between an open position and. aclosed position in synchronism with the remaining parts of theapparatus. This object is achieved in part by so mounting the seal platethat in moving between the open and closed positions, it traverses apath that is parallel to the path of movement of the piston within thechamber. Parallel movement of o 2 the piston and the seal plate permitssynchronized movement between them by employment of relatively uncomplexand long wearing linkages.

, Still another object of this present invention is to proway becausethe movement of the seal plate is con- I trolled by an operating rodthat is supported for move ment along a linear path parallel to thecentral axis of the chamber. The rod has a surface discontinuity thereonthat cooperates with an electric switch which is operated only when thediscontinuity reaches a position that corresponds to the open positionof the seal plate. Operation of the switch is a prerequisite toactivation of the dough ejection mechanism.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improvedtransverse wire separator that actson the dough as the dough is ejectedfrom the end of the chamber to separate shaped pieces therefrom. Thisobject is achieved by providing a single strand of wire and a supportfor the wire that is mounted for pivotal movement about an axis spacedvertically above the chamber opening. Because of the location of theaxis of piv-' otal movement of the wire separator, the wire separatorcan be positioned clear of the opening so as to permit movement of theseal plate to a closed position without interference from the wireseparator.

A feature and advantage of a wire separator according to thepresentinventionis that it can be so mounted that the path of movement of thetransverse separating wire, although arcuate, is in a directiongenerally parallel to the longitudinal dimension of the french fry shapepieces. Accordingly, the wire, as it moves through the protruding dough,has virtually no tendency to distort the formed potato bodies.

Another feature and advantage of the transverse wire separator of thisinventionis that the axis about which it is pivoted can be positionedvertically above the center of fixed mutually parallel horizontalwiresithe span one end ofthe cylindrical chamber. As the transverse wiremoves in aplane in close proximity to the plane of the fixed wires, itseparates dough protruding from the chamber between the fixed wirestherebycompleting formation of the french-fry shaped potato bodies.Because the pivotal axis of the transverse wire is above the cylindricalchamber, 1 the individual french-fry shaped bodies are separatedsequentially from the bottom toward the top. Consequently each body isfree to fall from the bottomas it is separated, thereby reducing thelikelihood of breakage of the bodies.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a system forsupplying a precise amount of water at a' precise temperature to thechamber for effecting re-' constitution of the dry potato product intopotato dough. The present invention achieves such object by providing awater heating tank at a position below the level of the water inletopening in the chamber and by providing a water pipe or conduit thatextends from the tank to the chamber opening in a continuous path; thepath slopes downward toward the water tank. Associated with the watertank is a pump that, when activated, pumps the water from the tank upthrough the slopingconduit until a preselected amount of water has beendischarged whereupon the pump is deactivated.

the system. Thus, whether the machine is cycled at short intervals orlong intervals, the temperature of the water introduced to the chamberis always at the optimum temperature to effect'formation of the drypotato product into a dough. I

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will bemore apparent after referring to the following specification andaccompanying drawings in which: I

FIG. 1 is a side view of apparatus embodying the present .inventionwithportions being broken away to reveal internal details;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view of portions of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a detail of FIG. 1; I

FIG. 4 is an enlarged end view taken along line 44 of FIG. 1;-

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion o fFlG. l;and

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentaryview of a portion of FIG. 1. v

Referring more particularly to the drawings and specifically to FIG. 1,reference characterA indicates a chamber into which dry potato productis introduced.

from a dry product supply and metering system B for mixture with ametered amount of water from a-wa'ter supply system C in order to form amass of homogeneous potato dough in chamber A. At one axial end ofchamber A is a dough-separating mechanism D which separates the doughintoshaped potato pieces as the doughis ejected from chamber A.

Chamber A is formed by an impervious cylindric wall 2 12 which is somounted that its central axis lies approximately horizontally. Thechamber has a rear axial opening .14 and a forward axial opening 16.Doughseparating mechanism D is mounted adjacent opening 16 and includesa plurality of parallel wires 18.,Doughseparating mechanism D, as morefully describedin the patent application cited hereinabove, separatesthe trolled inprepara'tion for another cycle of operation of 5 3,0 issuitable retained in position onthe end of the spanning relation ofchamber and carries wires 18 in opening 16 of the chamber.

Seal plate 26 is supported atits approximate center by an arm 32, whicharm is carried on the outer end of a seal plate operating rod 34. As canbe seen in FIG. 2, operating rod 34 is supported exterior of chamber Afor movement along an axial path parallel to the central axis of chamberA by suitable guide bushings, two of which are indicated at 36 and 38.As shown in FIG. 4, operating rod 34 is supported laterally of thevertical center of the chamber so that it does not interfere withintroduction of the dough constituents through opening 24 in thechamber. Rigid with the inner end of seal plate operating rod 34 is alaterally extending link 40 that defines an abutment surface 42 inalignment with the central axis of chamber A and with the rear extremityof piston plunger 22. Thus, as the plunger is driven rearward (towardthe right as viewed in FIG. 2) o'perating rod 34'is correspondinglydriven, whereby seal 'plate 26 is moved toward the closed position. The

' mechanism for so driving piston plunger 22 is disclosed in the abovecited'patent application and includes a pinion gear (not shown) thatengages a gear rack 22G formed along plunger 22. Such pinion gear isdriven by a motor 23M through.a gear box 23G, the details of which areset forth in the above cited patent application. As piston plunger 22 isdriven toward the right, as viewed in FIG. 2, it moves link and sealplate operating rod 34 against the force of a spring 44 which has oneend fastened to link 40 and the other end fastened to a fixed member 46which is a part of the frame of the dough into shaped pieces as it isejected from chamber A. For so ejecting the dough, the apparatus isprovided with a piston 20 carried on one end of a piston rod or plunger22. Chamber A additionally includes an opening 24 in wall 12 which, ascan be seen in FIG. 1, is located on the top of the cylindric wall andin the rear half thereof. Through opening 24, dry potato product fromstorage and metering mechanism B-and. water from water supply system Care introduced into chamber A. t

For sealing the chamber during introduction of the in which spring 44 isat its most-extended or stressedcondition and in which seal plate 26closes chamber A.

For retaining the seal plate in the closed position, there is mounted onoperating rod 34 a dog 48 that moves with the operating rod. A latchingpawl 50 is supported in the path of movementof dog 48 so that when theoperating rod reaches the position wherein-seal plate26 is closed, the.pawl engages the dog and thereby retains the seal plate in the closedposition. The pawlis linked to an electromagnetic solenoid 52;"when thesolenoid is energized pawl 50 is retracted from engagement with dog 48and the energy stored in spring 44 moves operating rod 34' and sealplate 26 to the open position, leftward as viewed in FIG.

In order to bias-seal plate 26 into sealing relation to chamber A whendog 48 is engaged by pawl 50, rod 34 is provided with a yieldablecoupling 54 which includes constituents thereinto and during the timerequired for the constituents to set into a relatively firm dough, aseal plate 26 is provided. This seal plate 26 moves toward and away fromopen end 16 of chamber A. The inner face of the seal plate is preferablyresilient so as to afford a watertight seal. A suitable arrangement, as

. seen in FIG. 2, is the provision of a resilient annular insert or ring28 in the inner surface of the seal plate. A cylindrical frame 30 has anouter edge congruent to resilient annular ring, so that when the sealplate is in the closed position chamber A is sealed. Cylindric framecompression springs 56. The force stored in the compression springsurges sealing plate 26 into watertight relationship withchamber A,see"FIG. 2.

Seal plate operating rod 34 includes a shock absorbing resilient ring 58which cushions the contact between link 40 and bushing 36 when the sealplate is moved to the open position by the energy stored in spring 44.The open position of the seal plate is depicted in FIG. 1 and from suchfigure it will'be seen that there is a substantial clearance spacebetween the inner surface of the seal plate and end 16 of chamber A.Such clearance space is sufficient to enable a transverse the-frame ofthe apparatus for movement about an axis that is generally verticallyaligned above the central axis of chamber A. As can be seen most clearlyin FIG. 4, pivot shaft 62 is exterior of cylindrical wall 12 of chamberA by a distance that is sufficient to permit the cutter to traverse theentire body of dough protruding from chamber A. Optimum cutting of theprotruding wardly-toward wires 18. Spanning the inner end of fingers 68and 70 is a single taut wire 72 that separates the portion of the doughthat protrudes from chamber A through the spaces between wires 18. Ascan be seen in FIG. 5, french fry bodies F are separated from the doughmass protruding from chamber A and fall by gravity against a deflectorplate 74 into a suitable container (not shown).

The two extreme positions of the transverse cutter are shown in FIG. 4,one in solid lines and one in broken lines. It will be appreciated thatin moving between the two extremes cutter wire 72 moves in a directionthat, although it is arcuate, is generally parallel to the spacesbetween wires'l8 and therefore axial of the french fry bodies F. Thisdirection of movement is a direction with respect to the french frybodies F that minimizes the tendency to break or distort the doughduring formation of the french fry bodies. It will also be seen fromFIG. 4 that when transverse cutter 60 stops in the extreme rightwardposition, the cutter is clear of opening 16 in chamber A so-that sealplate 26 can be moved to the closed position without interference fromthe transverse cutter.

The transverse cutter is reciprocated between the two extreme positionsshown in F IG.'4 by a cutter drive mechanism generally indicated at 74.Such mechanism includes a tie-rod 76 that extends from the crank77 thatis rigid with shaft 62 and arm 64 of the transverse cutter. The oppositeend of a tie-rod 76 is pinned at 78 to a disk 80. The center of disk 80is supported on a shaft 82 which is rotatively driven by motor 23Mthrough a suitable power train including gear box 23G. Because pin 78 iseccentric of shaft 82, rotation of the shaft effects lateralreciprocation of transverse cutter 60 between the extremes shown in FIG.4. As can be appreciated from FIGS. 1 and 4, drive shaft 82 is laterallyspaced from the center of the apparatus so as to avoid interferring withintroduction of dry product and water into chamber A through opening 24.

Shaft 82 includes a solenoid operated clutch 87 so that operation oftransverse cutter frame 66 can be ob tamed-only by application of anelectric signal to the clutch. The operation of the transverse cutter aswell as the operation of motor 23M is inhibited until a seal plate 26 ismoved to the full open position. To accomplish this, seal plateoperating rod 34 has a surface discontinuity 88 thereon, see FIG. 3.Mounted ajdacent to the path of movement of the operating rod is a limitswitch 90 which has an actuating arm 92 which bears on the surface ofoperating rod 34. When discontinuity 88 reaches a position oppositeactuator 92, a position corresponding to the full open position of sealplate 26,

- a circuit is established between terminals 94 of the limit switch.Such terminals are in circuit with the control circuitry of the typemore fully described in US. patent application, S.N. 816,675, whichcircuitry controls the operation of piston plunger 22 and transversecutter drive mechanism 74.

Dry product storage andmetering system B includes a storage hopper 96which terminates in a discharge opening 98. In communication withopening 98 below the hopper is a metering housing 100 which is gravityfed with dry product from hopper 96. Housing 100 includes a'cylindricchamber 102 in which a vaned rotor 104 is mounted. In the embodimentshown in the drawings, vaned rotor has four equally spaced vanes betweeneach adjacent pair of which is formed a uniform volume. Thus thequantity of dry product that is deposited into chamber A from the dryproduct storage and metering apparatus is proportional to the-number ofrevolutions through which rotor 104 is driven.

Rotor 104 is powered through a motor 106. The showing of motor 106 inFIG. 1 is merely schematic since this element is conventional and doesnot per se constitute a part of the present invention.

As the dry'product is introduced into chamber A from dry product storageand metering apparatus B, water is introduced into the chamber fromwater supply system C through a water nozzle 112. A continuous pipe orconduit 114 extends from the water supply system to the nozzle whichconduit, as seen most clearly in FIG. 5, slopes continuously downwardfrom] a point adjacent nozzle 112 to the water supply system. Moreparticularly, conduit 114 includes a curved segment 116 immediatelyadjacent above nozzle 112. Curved segment 1.16 is joined to a'rearwardlyextending and downwardly sloping segment 120 at the rear extremity ofwhich is a bend 122 and a vertical segment 124 which extends to thewater supply system C. Thus, water-cannot remain within conduit 114 butwill instead drain from nozzle 112 by gravity back to the water supplysystem C.

Referring now to FIG. 6, water supply system C includes a tank 126 whichfunctions to receive tap water, heat the water to an elevatedtemperature that is suitable to effect reconstitution of the potatoproduct into a homogeneous dough, and dispense a metered amountof theheated water into chamber A. Associated with tank 126 is an inletsolenoid valve 128 having a water inlet line 130 connected to aconventional water line and an outlet 132 connected to tank 126 at alocation above the lower region thereof. Solenoid valve 128 iscontrolled through a control circuit 133 which opens and closes thevalve in accordance with conditions to be described.

One condition is the level of the water in tank 126. When the levelinitank 126 rises to a height corre-v sponding with the lower end of anupper electrode 134,

control circuit 133 closes solenoid valve 128. When the level of waterin tank 126 corresponds with the lower end of a lower electrode 136,outflow of water from the tank is termined. Solenoid valve 128 thenopens to replenish the supply of water within tank 126. Accordingly,electrodes 134 and 136 control through circuit 133 the operation ofsolenoid valve 128 which in turn controls the level of water within tank126.

Also included in tank 126 is a heater coil 138 which is supplied withpower through terminals 139 and which heats the water within tank 126until a predetermined temperature is achieved within the tank. Suchpredetermined temperature iss'ensed by a thermostat 140 whichdeenergizes heating coil 138 when the desired temperature is achieved;control circuit 133 cooperates with and is responsive to thermostat 140for so deenergizing the heating coils by interrupting power to terminals139.

Tank 126 is provided with an outlet 142 which communicates through asuitable fitting 144 with a pump 146. The outlet of pump 146communicates with nozzle 112 through upwardly sloping conduit 114. Pump146 is a pump of the type that when deactivated permits backflowtherethrough so that the water residing in conduit 114 can flow bygravity back into tank 126 pieces avoids possible contamination ordrying of the dough. Suitable timing circuits of the type described inwhereby no significant volume of water resides in conduit 1 14 duringthe periods when pump 146 is not operating. It has been found that acentrifugal pump achieves the above-stated criterion for pump 146.Stated otherwise, when pump 146 is operating, it withdraws water fromtank 126 and forces it through conduit 114, whereas when the pump isdeactivated the water residing within conduit 114 is permitted to flowback through pump 146 into tank 126.

It is' sufficient for the present disclosure to describe the functionand operation of control circuit 133 since the specifics of the same aredescribed in the aforecited patent application. As the water level intank 126 rises in response to inflow of water through solenoid valve128, the -water reaches thelevel of the lower end of electrode 134whereupon, through control circuit 133, valve 128 is deactivated so asto terminate the inflow of water. When the water in tank 126 reaches apreselected temperature, thermostat 140 senses such and readies circuit133 for operation of the water supply system on command of the operator.When thewater supply system is activated in response to timing circuitrythat indicates readiness for water to be intro duced intochamber A, pump146 is activated so as to pump water from tank 126 through the pump andthrough conduit 114 and through nozzle 112 into chamber A. Operation ofpump 146 continues until the water level falls to a level correspondingto the lower end of electrode 136, whereupon pump 146 is stopped andwater delivery into chamber A is similarly stopped. Because pump 146when stopped permits water flow therethrough, the water in conduit 114flows back into tank I26 rather than remaining in conduit 114.Accordingly,the presence of ambient temperature in the atmospheresurrounding conduit 114 has no substantial effect on the temperature ofwater ultimately intro duced into chamber A to effect reconstitution ofthe dough. Circuit 133 is arranged to energize. solenoid valve 128whereupon water is introduced into tank 126 until it reaches alevelcorresponding to jhe lower end of electrode 134, whereupon theabove described sequence of events recurs.

The operation of the invention is as followsz with piston 20 in theposition shown in FIG. 2, corresponding to a position indicated bybroken lines in FlG l the dough in chamber A between the face of thepiston and the face of the seal plate will be assumed to have formedinto a homogeneous relatively stiff dough suitable for formation offrench'fry shaped potato bodies. Because seal plate 26 is in theposition shown in FIG. 2, such formation of the dough can proceedwithout leakage through the forward end of the chamber. Moreover,maintenance of the seal plate in a closed position until it is desiredto dispense french fry shaped U.S. patent application S.N.816,675prohibit movement of piston 20 beyond the described positionuntil the dough has so set up. When it is desired to dispense french fryshapedpieces from chamber A, the operator of the apparatus presses astart button (not shown) which energizes solenoid 52 thereby withdrawingpawl 50 from engagement with dog 48. In consequence of such, seal plate26 moves to the open position (shown in FIG. 1) because of the energystored in spring 44. Contact of shock absorber 58 with bushing 36terminates the forward or outward movement of the seal plate at whichposition (see FIG. 3) discontinuity 88 on sea] plate operating rod 34moves into a position shown in the figure so that actuator 92 effectscompletion of a circuit between terminals 94 of limit switch90. In amanner more fully described in the above cited patent application, thisinitiates forward incremental move ment of piston 20 with which issynchronized the movement of transverse cutter so that the doughwithin vchamber A moves forward by an amount equivalent to the thickness of afrench fry body and then stops momentarily while transverse cutter 60swings across the dough that protrudes between wires 18 thereby severinga plurality of french fry bodies indicated at F in FIG. 5. Whentransverse cutter 60 reaches the broken line position of FIG. 4, thegear box is adapted to move piston 20 forward another increment afterwhich the dough stops and transverse cutter 60 returns to the solid lineposition of FIG. 4 thereby severing another series of french fry bodies.Such action is continued until piston 20 moves substantially againstwires 18 to expel virtually all of the dough within the chamber, afterwhich plunger 22 and piston 20 are withdrawn to the rear of chamber A,i.e., toward the right as viewed in the figures. Continued rearwardmovement of' plunger 22 brings the inner or right-hand end of theplunger into'contact with abutment 42 on link 40 which moves operatingrod 34 and seal plate 26 rightwardly until the seal plate is closed andengagement between dog 48 and pawl 50 is effected. As disclosed in theabove cited patent application, control circuitry 133 then effectsintroduction of the dry material and water through opening 24 intochamber A. More particularly, rotor 104 is revolved by means of motor106 through an appropriate number of quarter rotations to meter thedesired amount of dry product into chamber A and pump 146 is energizedto force heated water residing in tank 126 up through conduit 114 fordischarge through nozzle 112. Operation of the apparatus, includingactivation of rotor 104 and pump 146, is interlocked through controlcircuit 133 sothat the introduction of dry product and water intochamber A cannot take place unless the water within tank 126 is at theproper temperature. During introduction of theconstituents into chamberA, piston 20 is moved leftwardly to the first described position,corresponding to the broken line position of FIG. 1, so as toconsolidate the water and dry product whereby a-homogeneous dough can beformed in the chamber. Because seal plate 26 is firmly retained in theclosed position by means of engagement of dog 48 by pawl 50 and theresilient force provided by mechanism 54, water cannot leak out of thefront opening of the chamber. As stated above, the water that resides inconduit 114 at the time of termination of operation of pump 146 drainsback into heater tank 126 and does not remain in the conduit.Accordingly, precise control of water temperature is achieved at alltimes.

As the dough is setting up as described next above, the water level intank 126 is raised in the manner described hereinabove until the waterreaches a level corresponding to the lower end of electrode 134whereupon solenoid valve 128 is deenergized.- As stated before,operation of the apparatus is inhibited'until such time as the waterwithin tank 126 reaches the desired temperature.

When the water level in tank 126 reaches electrode 134 and when thewater reaches a temperature sufficient to effect reconstitution of theconstituents within chamber A into a homogeneous dough (e.g., 140 F.),the apparatus is then ready for another dispensing operation at theoption of the operator. Thereafter, the sequence of operations proceedsas described hereinabove.

Thus it will be seen that the present invention provides apparatus forforming shaped potato pieces that requires no residual dough chargewithin the chamber because of the effectiveness of the seal plate 26 inrendering impervious the front end of the chamber during reconstitutionof the dry product and water into a stiff dough. Because the seal plateis carried on operating rod 34 and because operating'rod 34 moves in apath parallel to piston and plunger 22, the linkages between the twoelements is straightforward, simple and virtually maintenance-free.Moreover by the design of the improved transverse cutter 60, the sealplate can be moved in and out without interference from the transversecutter, and the transverse cutter can be operated without interferencefrom the seal plate. Finally, because of the construction of the watersupply system, and particularly the downwardly sloping relationship ofconduit 114 in combination with the operation of pump 138, waterintroduced into chamber A will at all times be of the desired volume andtemperature. Accordingly, an optimum dough consistency is achieved foreach cycle of operation of the apparatus, notwithstanding possiblechanges in ambient temperature in which 10' the apparatus operates.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been shown anddescribed, it will be obvious that other adaptations and modificationscan be made without departing from the true spirit and scope of theinvention. I

What is claimed is: I

1. Apparatus for reconstituting a dry product into a dough by additionof water thereto comprising an impervious chamber having an upwardlyopening inlet and a laterally opening outlet, means disposed verticallyabove said inlet for. metering a preselected quantity of dry productinto said chamber through said inlet, means defining a water nozzle fordirecting water into said chamber through said inlet, means disposed ata lower vertical level than said nozzle for heating a volume of water,means for conducting water from said heating means to said nozzle alonga path that slopes continuously upward from said heating means to saidnozzle, and means for displacing waterfrom said heating means to saidwater conducting means, said water displacing means affording reverseflow therethrough at all times when said displacing means is deactivatedto permit water in said conducting means to drain by gravity intosaidheating means when said displacing means is deactivated.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said heating means comprises awater tank, a first water sensor disposed adjacent to the top of saidtank and a second water sensor disposed in said tank at a vertical levellower than said first sensor, and means responsive to said sensors foractivating said water displacing means for a period sufficient to lowerthe water level in said tank from said first sensor to said secondsensor.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2 in combination with means forintroducing water into said tank and means responsive to said sensorsfor activating said water introducing means for a period sufficient toraise the water level in said tank from said second sensor to said firstsensor.

1. Apparatus for reconstituting a dry product into a dough by additionof water thereto comprising an impervious chamber having an upwardLyopening inlet and a laterally opening outlet, means disposed verticallyabove said inlet for metering a preselected quantity of dry product intosaid chamber through said inlet, means defining a water nozzle fordirecting water into said chamber through said inlet, means disposed ata lower vertical level than said nozzle for heating a volume of water,means for conducting water from said heating means to said nozzle alonga path that slopes continuously upward from said heating means to saidnozzle, and means for displacing water from said heating means to saidwater conducting means, said water displacing means affording reverseflow therethrough at all times when said displacing means is deactivatedto permit water in said conducting means to drain by gravity into saidheating means when said displacing means is deactivated.
 2. Apparatusaccording to claim 1 wherein said heating means comprises a water tank,a first water sensor disposed adjacent to the top of said tank and asecond water sensor disposed in said tank at a vertical level lower thansaid first sensor, and means responsive to said sensors for activatingsaid water displacing means for a period sufficient to lower the waterlevel in said tank from said first sensor to said second sensor. 3.Apparatus according to claim 2 in combination with means for introducingwater into said tank and means responsive to said sensors for activatingsaid water introducing means for a period sufficient to raise the waterlevel in said tank from said second sensor to said first sensor.